DNS Belgium, the not for profit registry for .be, has made changes to their public whois. From now on the telephone number of registrants will no longer be displayed in public whois. The change will impact all .be domain names, whether they are registered to a natural person (ie. a private individual) or a legal person such as a company or other organisation. If you … [Read more...] about Belgian (.be) Registry Removes Phones Numbers From Public Whois
ICANN Chooses Rwanda for 2024 Summer Meeting
ICANN holds three meetings a year and usually rotates them by geographic region. This year's meetings are being held in Mexico, USA and Germany, which means that North America gets two meetings, while Latin America and Caribbean, Asia etc all got none. Next year, however, things will change a little with the organisation holding its June meeting in Kigali, Rwanda. … [Read more...] about ICANN Chooses Rwanda for 2024 Summer Meeting
Funny Domain Advert
If you work for a domain name registry or registrar you often find yourself trying to explain what you do to friends and family. While you might love your job and think the DNS is "fascinating" the reality is that most people's eyes glaze over. This Japanese advert puts an amusing spin on the entire thing: Love it! … [Read more...] about Funny Domain Advert
Does the Epik Sale Signal the end of the Saga or just a new Chapter?
The registrar Epik has been sold to a new company which, conveniently, is also called Epik. The details of the deal aren't 100% public, but from what has been reported by Andrew and others it sounds like the transaction would have involved a cash injection equal to the beleaguered registrar's debts. Up until a couple of days ago Epik was owned by a company called Epik … [Read more...] about Does the Epik Sale Signal the end of the Saga or just a new Chapter?
Telegram Links Being Blocked in France
Telegram is an encrypted messaging service. It uses the domain name t.me for users to create short links to their profiles so that you can share your telegram link without having to give anyone your mobile phone number. So a user whose username (handle) is john would be reachable via https://t.me/john and so on. At some point in the last 24 hours the French government … [Read more...] about Telegram Links Being Blocked in France
Whois is Officially Dead (Bonus – so is the fax!)
For the last few years registries of both names and numbers have been rolling out new technologies. One of the areas that was long due an upgrade was the protocol for displaying registration data. For the past 30 or so years both names and numbers have used "whois" to tell you who a domain or IP address was linked to. Sure, it "worked", but it was far from ideal. Every registry … [Read more...] about Whois is Officially Dead (Bonus – so is the fax!)
Parler is Officially “Gone”
I've written about Parler a few times in the past. To recap Parler marketed itself as social network for free speech extremists. While the marketing pitch might have used the "free speech" angle, the reality is that the social network pandered to and attracted the far right. Late last year controversial musician Ye announced that he was going to buy the platform, but … [Read more...] about Parler is Officially “Gone”
IGF 2023 Call For Proposals
This year's IGF is being held in Kyoto, Japan. The call for session proposals is now open. This year's theme is "The Internet We Want - Empowering All People". If you're interested in proposing a session full details on the process is available here. The deadline for submissions is May 19th at 2359 UTC. The event will be "hybrid" but depending on your location the … [Read more...] about IGF 2023 Call For Proposals
Registration for ICANN 77 Washington DC Now Open
If you're planning on attending the ICANN public meeting in Washington DC this June then read on... The event will be held in Washington DC at the Marriott Marquis. If you're intending to go in person you'll need to register before June 7th. In common with the last few meetings it'll be "hybrid" with "in person" registration closing about a week before the meeting. … [Read more...] about Registration for ICANN 77 Washington DC Now Open
Nominet Registry Advisory Council Election 2023
Nominet has had a variety of different bodies that were designed to let members provide input into the organisation's running. The most recent is the "UK Registry Advisory Council" or UKRAC. The idea is that its members are elected by members on the basis of one member, one vote and the members of the RAC need to slot into one of three tranches, with two representatives in … [Read more...] about Nominet Registry Advisory Council Election 2023